| Motors
Land Rover Bursary
he winners, selected for their
stand-out business plans,
passion and dedication to
making a difference in their
local community, include
Falmouth-based, Jenny
Dunstan, founder of Jenny’s Beef Ltd which
specialises in high quality Piemontese beef and
Lucy and Chris Williams, who are setting up a
Scottish tea company, Tulloch Tea, in addition
to creating a range of tea-infused beauty
products.
Other recipients for 2017 are organic dairy
farmer, Claire Howlett, from Bromyard who with
her brother has just taken over the running of
their family business, Wicton Farm, and suckler
cow farmer James Speers, who is also working
to raise awareness about the issues
surrounding mental health and safety in the
community as part of his role as president of
the Young Farmers Clubs of Ulster. The fifth and
final recipient is Lindale-based David Corrie-
Close who, with his wife Bekka, has recently
established the Horned Beef Company.
At a special event at Loseley Park in Surrey,
the winners were each awarded their Discovery
Sport, regarded as the world’s most versatile
compact SUV with a wading depth of 600mm, a
towing capability of 2.2 tonnes and special
features such as Terrain Response, making it
capable whatever the weather or terrain. They
also received off-road and towing training from
Land Rover Experience to prepare them for all
terrains and weather conditions, in addition to
teaching them about the range of sophisticated
off-road and towing technologies featured in
the vehicle.
Claire Howlett, said: ‘I am delighted to have
been chosen as one of the recipients for The
Prince’s Countryside Fund Land Rover bursary
this year. Farming can be a very isolating
industry to work in so I feel it’s vital to have a
capable and reliable vehicle. It will provide
flexibility, independence and confidence not
only to easily gain access to remote parts of the
farm with challenging terrain but also to attend
events further afield, increasing the ability to
network and gain new skills.”
Scott Dicken, Marketing Director, Jaguar
Land Rover UK, said: “We are pleased to be
able to once again support five more young
farmers through our bursary with The Prince’s
Countryside Fund. Since 2013 this scheme, in
addition to contributing to the Fund’s grant
giving programme, has enabled us to show our
support for such a crucial part of the UK
economy.
“These young people are great advocates of
the farming industry and their passion and
T
www.farmingmonthly.co.uk
For the fourth year running, Land Rover has teamed up with The Prince’s
Countryside Fund to award five entrepreneurial young people with a year’s
loan of a Land Rover Discovery, to help them develop their rural careers.
dedication is a pleasure to see. Their
entrepreneurial spirit is also showing the
diverse options within farming and just how
exciting and multi-dimensional a career in
agriculture can be.”
Claire Saunders, director of The Prince’s
Countryside Fund, added: “Over the past few
years we’ve seen what a difference access to a
reliable and capable vehicle can make and
we’re delighted to be able to once again work
in partnership with Land Rover UK to support
five ambitious young people who are making
not only huge strides in their respective
careers, but also a major difference in their rural
communities. The Fund is looking forward to
following the journey of these exceptional
young people over the next 12 months.”
The 2017 winners:
Jenny Dunstan
Jenny’s Beef Ltd
Based in Falmouth, Jenny founded Jenny’s
Beef Ltd in 2013 on her dad’s farm. She has
just moved to another local farm and hopes to
expand over the next three years. Jenny
specialises in Piemontese beef, which is not
common in the UK, despite being extremely
healthy with high nutritional value, as the
leanness hasn’t always met commercial
specifications for supermarkets. Jenny also
works to help local community farming
projects, including AONBee's which works to
improve bee populations and the AHDB
monitor farm programme which aims to
improve the profitability, productivity and
sustainability of arable and mixed farms.
Lucy and Chris Williams
Tulloch Tea
Lucy and her husband Chris are currently
setting up a tea plantation in Bonar Bridge,
Scotland, with the aim of creating a range of
artisan tea which will be sold at shops and
cafes on the popular NC500 route. She also
has a small herd of three dairy goats which she
is hoping to expand to 10 for both meat and
milk. This will enable her to produce a range of
goat’s milk beauty products infused with tea
including body lotion and soap. Lucy will
initially stock her products in the Highlands but
is looking to expand to London, Edinburgh and
abroad.
Claire Howlett
Wicton Farm
Claire returned to her family’s organic dairy
farm in Bromyard three years ago to help put a
succession plan in place allowing her and her
brother to take over running the business from
their father. Claire currently manages a herd of
120 organic autumn calving cows with all the
milk being supplied to OMSCo (Organic Milk
Suppliers Cooperative) Alongside this, she is
looking at opportunities to expand into a beef
enterprise. The farm is also committed to being
a learning platform for local schools and
colleges, giving students the chance to visit
and learn about organic farming, where their
food comes from and the wildlife which lives on
the farm and surrounding countryside. Claire
and her brother also offer work placements to
inspire the next generation of farmers and help
secure the future of farming.
James Speers
President, Young Farmers Clubs of Ulster
In addition to his fulltime job as a rep for an
Agriculture company, James has just recently
agreed a 51% share in his family farm as part of
a succession plan. During this process, James
decided to go back to the Suckler cow farm
model and did an AI course to learn about
breeding and how to introduce a new type of
genetics into the herd, improving the daily live
weight gain on calves. He also runs breeding
ewes and a store lamb enterprise. As president
of the Young Farmers Clubs of Ulster, James is
focusing on farm safety and mental health
within the faming community, as these are
particular areas of concern. He is also helping
with a land mobility project in conjunction with
the Young Farmers Clubs and the Ulster
Farmers Union, matching young farmers with
older established ones to exchange skills and
learn. Through these activities, James hopes to
help put young farmers’ views on the table
while helping to position farming as a
sustainable and profitable career path, getting
more of the next generation involved and
hopefully bringing down the average age of
farmers.
David and Bekka Corrie-Close
The Horned Beef Company Ltd.
David and Bekka are "Farming with Nature",
an ethos that considers the many other benefits
that good land management can achieve in
addition to food production. Their herd of 80
native breed cattle graze extensively on their
1,000-acre holding which is made up of wildlife-
rich land owned by the National Trust and other
private landlords. They aren't from a farming
family and they don't have a farm; all of their
animals live outdoors year-round. Their
innovative community crowd funding scheme
helped them to set up the business; local
people have been keen to support young
farmers with a desire for positive change in the
countryside. This unique farming system
produces naturally slow grown beef with an
exceptional flavour that is sold online.
August 2017 | Farming Monthly | 59